Pope John Paul II is being beatified not because of his impact on history or on the Catholic Church, but because of the way he lived the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love, said Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes.

Celebrating Mass for participants in a diocesan-endorsed forum on sexual diversity, Bishop Raul Vera Lopez of Saltillo, Mexico, told gays and lesbians, "The Church is your home. Jesus founded the Church to bring in those on the outside, for those suffering exclusion and rejection . . . so that they find the love of God."